One Layer Wednesday - Patriotic Card

The challenge today from Susan Raihala's Simplicity blog (should you chose to accept it)...and I did...is to create a patriotic card in honor of the Fourth of July and to celebrate our country's heritage. Rushing home from work, I began to frantically go through my stamps. Darn! No flags...no patriotic sentiments! What's a girl to do?! Searching through my closet...I happened upon my creative hat. What?! You don't have one? I admit I misplace mine all the time, and never know where I might find it...but you should definitely get one!

I knew if I dug through my stash long enough, that I'd come up with something! I found my Fancy Pants stamps buried waaaaaayyyy back in the back of a cabinet....and low and behold...there's a star...and a star burst! Now, settling my creative cap tightly on my head, I began to stamp. Okay, so I totally messed up 3 cards before I finally finished a card that I "sorta" like.

I simply stamped three stars (Fancy Pants stamp), then the sentiment (Hero Arts) and topped it all off with the starburst (Fancy Pants). It still looked kinda plain, so I added a couple of red lines to hold it all together. So there! It's finished...and now that I think about it...it would make a great card to send to my grandson who is graduating from boot camp! Alright!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I love it when you leave me a comment...so...Until next time....

Hugs!

Creative Scrappers - Sketch #110 Revealed

It's reveal day at Creative Scrappers! Today reveal is sketch #110 and layouts by Team P. Here's my take on the sketch:

This is a photo of my handsome grandson, Allen. It's very difficult to get a smile from Allen. He loves to laugh and smiles a lot...just not when I get my camera out! LOL!

The papers I used are Bella Blvd - Man of the House Collection. I love the argyle print...just very "boyish" to me. I added some rust and blue cardstock to finish it off. The scalloped edge is cut with "cloud" scissors from Ek Success. Life is good is a rubon that I placed on a circle punched with a 1" circle punch. The frog embellie is just one I found in my stash...no idea who makes that. The other circles were punched with a circle punch. I added a little journaling block. All papers and the photo are matted with a dark brown in order to make the patterned paper pop.

Here's the sketch:

Thanks so much for stopping by...leave a comment and let me know you stopped by!

Until next time....

Hugs!

A Color Throwdown Challenge and Trying Something New

These are the colors for the Color Throwdown #98. The colors were chosen from Basic Grey's Cappella Collection, which I just happen to have...since I just completed a layout for Basic Grey's newsletter. I really love the colors in these papers, so this challenge was perfect for me.

Here's the card I created. I used a soft pink cardstock base. The sentiment is stamped on a Nestabilities Labels 11 die cut. I inked the edges of the patterned paper with a soft brown. The scalloped edge is a Martha Stewart punch. I added a piece of lace, a few pearls, and a pink and brown flower layered with a pearl center. I love the finished card! I think it turned out a bit feminine, so I'll have to think of someone special to send it to.

This second card is something new I was trying. I found a great tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers and it was super easy to follow. The first photo is with the card closed...and the second photo is with the card opened.

I made this card for our grandson who will soon graduate from basic training at Lackland AFB.

I used a combination of papers...some Cosmo Cricket - Mr. Campy, the red is My Mind's Eye, and then added some gold cardstock. The image is from PTI, stamped on white cardstock, and colored with Copic markers. You can't really see it here, but I covered the vase with some glossy accents. It gives it a nice finish.

Thanks a bunch for stopping by. Leave a comment and let me know what you think of these cards.

Until next time....

Hugs!

OLW 9 - Use a Flourish

Well, I'm just now getting around to the One Layer Challenge from Simplicity blogspot. This week the challenge was to use a flourish on our card. Okay...each week I keep thinking that I will begin to get better at this, but once again, I was wrong! I made this first card, didn't like the blue...and my blue lines are smudgy (is that a word?). Very simple...just a flourishy Thank You...a black border drawn with a fine pointed black pen...then a little blue highlighting with a blue Copics marker. The piercing was done as an afterthought...maybe I should have left that off...hmmmm....

So, after finishing the blue card...I thought...what the heck...I'll just try it again in pink, space my piercing out a little and try to draw a bit straighter with my pink Copic. Maybe a little better?

Having decided that I really didn't "Love" the way the first two came out, I decided to try something TOTALLY different! This was done with some pink Bazzill textured cardstock...but I find it almost impossible to stamp on the texture, so I used the smooth side. I rounded the corners with my handy-dandy Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper. The flourish had some big dots at the ends of each swirl....so trying to dress it up...and thereby losing my "one-layered" look...I decided to add a few purple bling...I do love my bling! The butterflies were another afterthought...but I kinda like the balance of them. The "Thinking of You" sentiment is from a CTMH stamp set I've had forever.

I'm not so sure I adhered to the rules on this one...but I did give it the good ol' college try!

Thanks so much for stopping by...Until next time....

Hugs!

My First Layout for Creative Scrappers DT

Today is the first reveal for Design Team P at Creative Scrappers. Our sketch this weeks is Sketch #108...as shown below.

Here's my take on the sketch. Photos of my granddaughter, Helen Grace playing at the park last fall. This was really a pretty tall slide, but Helen Grace wasn't scared at all!

I used a white background with touches of orange (a color I rarely use). The border is the loopy punch by Martha Stewart. Large circle was cut with the EK Success Circle Cutter. I inked the edges of the patterned paper with some orange ink to make it stand out from the white background.

And here's the sketch...

Thanks so much for stopping by....Until next time...

Hugs!

Me and Basic Grey

The June issue of the Basic Grey newletter is out. And....I have a layout in the newsletter! I was asked to design a layout using one of Basic Grey's sketches and to use some of their new papers. Here's the sketch from Basic Grey.

I chose to design my layout with the Cappella Collection. I must say, these are some beautiful papers!

These are some photos I took just last month of my beautiful little granddaughter, Maggie Elizabeth. I just LOVE her pretty bald head...reminds me of her mama when she was that age!

I punched the flowers, then inked them and did a little doodling on them. I added a pretty piece of pink bling for the centers of the flowers. The edge punch is a Martha Stewart punch. Then I just added a little inking...and a little doodling...finished!

Thanks so much for stopping by....Until next time...

Hugs!

OLW 8 Challenge

Well, it's rolled around to another Wednesday, and another fabulous challenge from Susan Raihala's blog Simplicity. Each week I am amazed by the creativity of all the ladies who make cards for this weekly challenge. I can't wait to see what our challenge will be each week and then I get to look at all the beautiful cards everyone makes. Talk about inspiration!

The challenge this week was to mask an image. I have rarely done any masking, as I usually mess it up before I'm finished...and this card was no exception. I believe I had to redo the star about 3 times before I managed to get a clean mask. I'm not sure what my problem is, but I seem to get ink all over my fingers...then of course I touch the card. Anywho...this is the card I finally completed for the challenge. Thanks, Susan for always making me push the limits of my creativity!

I made this card to send to our grandson, who is at this moment in boot camp in San Antonio, Texas. We're proud of him and his decision to join the Air Force...following in his Grandpa's footsteps. So....here's to you Galen! We are very proud of you, and path you have chosen to follow.

I cut the star from white cardstock, then used the negative image for my mask on this card. The sentiment is PTI, and the butterfly...well, I'm not sure who makes it.

Thanks for stopping by...Until next time...

Hugs!

Getting Ready for Father's Day

It'll soon be Father's Day, and each year it reminds me of how much I miss my Daddy. I hope he knew how much I loved him. If you're lucky enough to still have your Father/Dad/Daddy with you, make sure you tell him how special he is and how much you love him on this Father's Day.

Moving on....

There is a man who is special to me - my sweet husband. He has been an important part of my children's lives for the past 29 years. So on Father's day this year (and every year), I give him a special card - made just for him. The card is my way of saying - at least once a year (in case I forget to tell him every day) - that I love him and I appreciate him.

I found this challenge at the Flourishes blog and it fit in perfectly with the card I wanted to make for my husband for Father's Day. The challenge is Sunshine and Blue Skies. There's even a chance for a prize. All you have to do is make a card using yellow and blue and add a link it to it at the Flourishes blog.

I used one of my stamps I purchased from the Flourishes store recently - a set called A Guiding Light, which is perfect for Father's Day.

As you can see, I'm ready for Father's Day a little ahead of time (whew!). I usually wait until the last minute, so needless to say, I'm pretty pleased with myself for getting it done early!

Hope you have a great weekend...Until next time...

Hugs!

OLW - 7 - Repetitive Stamping Challenge

Today was a new challenge from Susan at Simplicity. Today our challenge was to make a one layer card using repetitive stamping. Just a note...this one layer stuff is really stretching my creativity! I find it extremely difficult to only have one layer. I want to add a little bling, ribbon, chipboard....oh, the things I could add!! But, I digress. I believe I made about 3 cards before I came up with this one that I'm somewhat pleased with. I used a little Inkadinkado stamp that I've had for a while. Stamped it in black, then painted the flowers with some irredescent paint that I've had forever and rarely used. The sentiment is a stamp from Paper Trey Ink.

I made the inside of the card with a little pocket, so that I could insert a gift card for the recipient. How fun is that?! I know I love to get a little gift card. How about you?

Once again, I enjoyed stretching my imagination and trying to complete the challenge. Thanks, Susan for keeping us on our toes!

Thanks for stopping by....Until next time...

Hugs!